In this quarter, Web3Port Foundation's core investment strategy continues to focus on supporting revolutionary Web3 projects, especially those with long-term potential and innovative technologies that can significantly change the industry landscape. We believe that Web3 is not only a technological innovation but also a key force driving creativity and changes in production relations. Therefore, Web3Port Foundation continues to lay out in multiple tracks, including DeFi, AI, DePIN, and Payment. We believe that by empowering projects that can lead industry development and provide real value, we will promote the development and progress of the entire Web3 ecosystem.
II. Overall Data Performance
In the third quarter, Web3Port Foundation scanned and screened a total of 650 projects; of which 212 projects passed the initial screening, accounting for 32%; after in-depth research and comprehensive investigation, 34 projects were discussed at the IC meeting, accounting for 16%; ultimately, 19 projects were successfully invested in, accounting for 8.9%, with a total investment amount of 10.1 million USD.
The overall heat of the Web3 primary market decreased in the third quarter, and market sentiment was relatively low. Although industry VCs were very interested in projects, they chose to be cautiously observant due to overall uncertainty. This cooling of the market has caused some entrepreneurs and investors to experience a certain level of anxiety. However, Web3Port Foundation remains firmly optimistic about the long-term development opportunities in the Web3 industry, continuing to maintain a high frequency and amount of investments. We firmly believe that the transformative potential of Web3 technology remains immeasurable, and real innovation and breakthroughs will come from those projects that dare to move forward amidst challenges. Therefore, we hope that Web3 entrepreneurs can maintain their fighting spirit, fear no difficulties, and continue to pursue breakthroughs in cutting-edge technologies and applications.
The distribution of discussed projects still reflects W3P's investment strategy, which focuses on early pre-Seed/Seed projects and high-quality leading pre-listing projects in the mid-late stage, forming a pyramid structure that gradually establishes certainty and a cohesive layout.
Web3Port Foundation categorizes all projects into three major categories: Infra: providing the necessary technical architecture, hardware, and tools for Web3, such as L1/L2 (Movement, Bitlayer), AI computing power (Aethir), ZK technology services (Zerobase); Middleware (app/Dapp): connecting infra and applications, supporting upper-layer applications so that they or users can share information, resources, and liquidity from different infrastructure in a timely manner. For example, the Defi trio Jupiter, Echelon, Trusta; Consumer: the core business model serves end-users, with end-users contributing the greatest commercial value. UXLINK, Wildforest.
The projects discussed in the meeting mainly focused on Infra, Middleware, and other projects with higher technical barriers and higher market ceilings.
Based on the natural financial attributes of Web3, DeFi projects remain the main track for discussed projects, followed by AI, DePIN, and Gamefi projects.
Figure Caption: All curves in this figure are abstracted from multiple values into 'heat trend values' proportionally, and the dashed lines after Q3 are forecast values.
Investment activity is composed of the investment heat, number of investment projects, amounts, and other datasets from Web3Port Foundation;
Market Investment Amount is composed of the actual investment and financing amounts as well as the number of investment projects in the Web3 primary market, aggregated from public data;
Listed Projects are weighted averages based on actual listing project data from 5 major exchanges (Binance, Okx, Bybit, Kucoin, Bitget)
III. Thoughts and Sharing on Some Tracks
About AI:
Regarding market expectations for next year, most T1 VCs have a consensus on high expectations for the AI track. Due to some projects being launched this year and some projects having high-quality financing investment teams, there has been a surge of various projects riding the wave in the primary investment field. However, projects that are truly related to blockchain itself or that distinguish themselves from traditional AI have not yet appeared. The market is looking for real implementation of the decentralized concept, and some answers have emerged, such as combining decentralization with computing power distribution; integrating token economics with the market side of AIGENT; providing better soil for AI applications, and building more suitable AI infrastructure public chains, etc. This line of thought has not stopped, and more ideas and creativity are budding. More thoughts are currently focused on binding AI AGENT with individual characteristics, payment transfers between AI AGENTS, verifiability of AI paths, and specific distributed storage environments for AI, etc.
About DePIN:
The DePIN track embodies the logic of enhancing the scalability and efficiency of infrastructure through decentralization and transparency in Web3, addressing the issue of large-scale capital investment by a single entity through crowdsourced resources. It has numerous potential applications across various industries and is easier to achieve Real business. With each round of evolution in DePIN projects, we see that the DePIN track is no longer purely based on mining logic, as projects like Aethir and Akash are beginning to have considerable business income, which not only can be used to support tokens but also reduces dependence on investment funds through the dual accumulation of mining sales and business income. Products with self-sustaining capabilities are more welcomed by investors and exchanges.
DePIN projects are no longer confined to the single aggregation of resources but are gradually developing towards composite resource aggregation protocols, such as integrated storage and computing, bandwidth sharing, and computing acceleration. Currently, they are still concentrated in the infrastructure field, often appearing as the upstream of AI. The explosion of AI narratives will also drive related DePIN tracks; general infrastructure for DePIN, middleware, EdgeAI combined with AI, and consumer-grade DePIN products such as wearable devices are all potential tracks. The commonality of DePIN track projects is that they all require community and ground promotion networks for the sale of mining equipment, and during the layout process, gradually internalizing these distribution networks into our capabilities is an exploratory direction.
About Ordinary Investors & Meme:
The core demand of ordinary investors is to obtain returns. After the ICO and DeFi summer, there hasn't been a good range of returns, but the market always has stories of getting rich quickly, just like casinos never lack gamblers. This year's excitement is concentrated around Meme projects led by pump.fun and the zero-cost knock knock to earn airdrop gameplay in the TG ecosystem. Going to VC, going to CEX, and doing localized projects also reflects the true thoughts of retail investors. However, we believe that VC's professional insight can also bring projects that allow ordinary investors to make money, and we hope Web3Port Foundation can strive to achieve this.
The Meme track has also gradually seen the emergence of a decentralized 'conspiracy group' centered around project parties, market makers, KOLs, early discoverers, and disseminators, with a significant increase in the proportion of Meme tokens led by such groups. Meme is no longer just a pure on-chain PVP asset; for projects with a primary narrative that is not Meme, Meme has started to become a medium for brand communication and a tool to increase community enthusiasm, leading to a closer integration of operational strategies of conventional projects with Meme.
Conclusion:
In Q3, we adhered to our original intention, providing the market with feasible assistance, focusing on supporting AI, DeFi, and infrastructure tracks, and achieving deep cooperation with multiple public chains, sowing seeds for potential explosive projects in the future. We firmly believe that the future market will bring more possibilities.
The recent U.S. elections have settled, and we see policy directions and market hot money starting to flow back to Web3, which is encouraging. We are confident about Q4 and will continue to provide comprehensive support, including but not limited to funding, for projects with potential and value. We welcome everyone to contact us.
